Moonlit
by ravendream
Summary: [KagomexInuYasha: Implied] 20 minutes on a cold autumn night with someone entirely unexpected can truly bring up every emotion. InuYasha, do you love her like you once loved me?


A/N: Mostly Kikyou/Inu-Yasha confrontation, but the story itself is Kagome/Inu-Yasha, though it's more implied than outright shown. I should warn you, it's not great, but it's far better than "Dearest" was, which makes me proud.

**Moonlit **

The makeshift camp was barely lit by the dull silver moon.

Inu-Yasha stood alone, looking up into the velvet sky. All of his companions were sleeping soundly. Or at least he figured they were: the fire was out, and he hadn't heard any bickering for hours.

He wasn't looking for anything in particular from the stars. Well, nothing that they could give him. It had been a long journey so far, and there was still so much to do. Shards to find. Demons to defeat. It was rough on everyone, but Inu-Yasha didn't really want it to end. As soon as everything was finished... Then...

_Kagome would return to the present forever._

It was inevitable: Kagome staying in the past longer than necessary could change everything in the future, including Kagome's existence. It was such a simple, yet somehow complex concept that he preferred not to think about.

The rustling of leaves alerted him just at the same time as a familiar aura.

"Kikyou." He didn't speak her name aggressively, nor did he sound like usual- the sad, forgiving whispers didn't come this time. The name rolled softly off his tongue. There was no emotion to it. It was merely a statement, an acknowledgement.

Her face showed her resentment of his apathy as she came to stand beside him.

"I'm not here to fight you, Inu-Yasha." Bending down, she sat on the grassy field. "I have no ulterior motive. Don't start questioning me." His ear twitched slightly, but she wasn't sure if it was a sign of emotion, or just a subconscious reaction to the light breeze blowing past.

"If I thought you were here to fight, then I wouldn't be standing next to you. But why _are_ you here, Kikyou?" Something seemed to come to him as he stepped back and drew out his claws in one swift motion. "If you think you're going to harm Kagome, then I swear I will kill you now."

Kikyou didn't look up at him. She kept staring straight ahead. There was silence for a few moments before she grinned up at him. "But Inu-Yasha, I'm already dead, remember?" A sadness flashed through her eyes, but was gone almost as soon as it had appeared. Replaced with a look of contempt. Then there was nothing.

"Do you love her?" Inu-Yasha stood still, unsure of what to say.

"Why?"

"Just answer me, Inu-Yasha. Do you love her?" Finally Inu-Yasha sat beside the dead miko, and sighed a little.

"Yeah, I do." Kikyou's eyes narrowed slightly, and Inu-Yasha thought he might have seen a tear or two in her eyes, before she blinked them away. Like always, Kikyou would betray no weakness. Something was different about her though. She wasn't trying to kill anyone, and he was as sure as hell that it wasn't just a change of heart.

"Do you love her like you once loved me?"

Everything seemed to freeze in that moment. What kind of question was _that_? How could he answer that? Kikyou and Kagome were so different, weren't they? He would never love them in the exact same way.

He had once loved Kikyou with all his heart. He would have died for her, he would have given anything. He loved Kagome like that now, true, but it was so different. His first love had been shattered. Tainted by the jealous thief, Onigumo. His love for Kikyou now was weak and pathetic. He was in love with the memory, with the mirror image of his broken past. And he felt sorry. He felt so sorry for everything Kikyou had gone through, and he blamed it on himself.

His love for Kagome, however, was pure, wasn't it? Maybe at first he had only seen Kikyou in her... The raven black hair, the beautiful eyes, the innocent soul. Then he had resented her for the likeness. Every once in a while, he found himself hating her for being Kikyou's reincarnation. It just wasn't fair. But he'd learned to love her. He'd come to realize how special and wonderful she was. When they had met, he thought she was a nuisance, but his instinct had still been to protect her. As time went by, that was all he wanted. To protect her. To keep her safe. To love her like she deserved.

And now... Kikyou was sitting next to him. Not the Kikyou he had known and loved. Until now he had loved her still. Until now he couldn't be mad.

Somehow, her coming to him merely for consolation after trying to kill him, and his friends... It made him sick.

He would never hate her. But he couldn't love her anymore. Kikyou was no longer Kikyou, and never would be again.

"I love her more." He closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind of the mess of emotions that was plaguing him. The anger, the love, the sadness, the regret... He was burying it. He couldn't afford to break down now. He couldn't afford to be overrun with grief, with guilt, with everything he was feeling. When he opened his eyes again, Kikyou was gone.

He had never heard her leave, and couldn't see her in the distance. He had never sensed her aura fading away, but, sure enough, now it was gone.

Hanging his head, he stood up and began walking slowly back to camp. He needed the sleep afterall. Tomorrow would bring so much traveling, and he needed to be ready. Ready to fight. Ready to protect.

As he approached the campsite, he realized someone was standing there.

Kagome.

Dressed in pink, bunny-print pajamas, with a blanket around her shoulders, she yawned.

"Inu-Yasha... Why are you up so late...?" She yawned again and shivered a little.

"Just thinking."

"Oh..." She cocked her head to the side. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing Kagome."

"Hey, Inu-Yasha?" She sat back down on her sleeping bag and patted the space beside her. "It's cold tonight, and there's plenty of room... Why don't you sleep here?"

Inu-Yasha could have expected it. Kagome could be shy and awkward, but she always had her heart in the right place, and Inu-Yasha usually spent his nights sleeping while sitting up, no matter how cold it was.

He didn't want to say no though, so he simply nodded, and settled down beside her.

"Kagome... I love you."

"I love you too, Inu-Yasha."

And everything fell silent.

A/N: Hell yeah, I'm actually proud of this. It still sucked, but at least it was better than "Dearest", right? Anyway, yeah... Slight Kagome/Inu-Yasha fluffiness. Not much, but would it make any of you happier if I said that they have passionate, wild sex later on? Ok, ok... Anywho, I tried my best with Kikyou. I hate post-death Kikyou (down with the bitch), but pre-death Kikyou was so pure. I still think that Kikyou is a great character overall though... Um, yeah... Hope you liked.


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